VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[deccauk]

I'm still waiting to get on the list. My corrosion is very minor and only on one side on a 2011 van. I'm wondering now whether to even bother persuing it.

 

[barry]

I'm still waiting to get on the list. My corrosion is very minor and only on one side on a 2011 van. I'm wondering now whether to even bother persuing it.

It will spread!

 

[inthemidnighthour]

Out of the blue I have just had a call from a repair centre in Milton Keynes, ours is now booked in for start of October but they are not sure what's happening for a replacement vehicle ! It's going for a whole week.least we were not forgotten

 

[KWT]

Hi all. Sorry for the rant in advance. We have a 2011 140 se picked up december 2011. The roof blistered after 4 months of having it from new. Warrenty claim was processed and accepted 6 months in. That was june 2012. 2016 still not sorted. Was contacted in september 2015 by Shorade Accident Repair of cannock who where doing the repair that we needed to take the van back to Imperial Commercials in stoke and have new photos taken of the damage and resubmitted and that the van was booked in for the repair in june 2016. We did this and called in May to check all was ok and the work was going ahead. We were told that we were not on the system and that there had never been a record of our van. After countless calls to vw, the van center and the repair center we were told that the van center wasnt paying their bills and that we had been wiped of the system. ?????? VW knew about this and we would be rebooked in for this september. I have just been informed by Imperial Commercials that they are not allowed to deal with this and that all contact must be with VW customer care contact name "Imran Khan". Low and behold you cant get in contact with this person. Shorade now tell me that the repair cant be done and that a new warrenty claim has to be made. Dis-report submitted. That any repair will involve a plastic cover and that the roof blistering will just be touched up. Wtf? Sorry. How is this the correct fix. Why after 4.5 years is this still not sorted. On top of this the floor between the driver and passenger seats collapsed due to the foam support snapping ??. Repair done but guess what. Press you hand on it and it bows like buggery ?? At £108 per hour labour. Who is bloody working on the van?? Customer care and service is a joke. As far as buying another VW vehicle goes. They can shove it. Again sorry for the rant.

 

[Hotel California]

@KWT , welcome on your fisrt post .
The floor between the front seats is weak from factory , guess they stood to much on it doing the repair. Bummer!
If it is weak afther repair ....it is like new ....

As the roofcorrosion , questions questions ....and nobody know the answers .
Try to enjoy the Cali with the bubbled roof in the meantime

 

[AlanP]

I have ben waiting since Oct 2014 and got this message today after enquiring about progress, I give up! :
Sorry it’s been so long, I’m not sure if you’re aware or not but Volkswagen changed the repair programme and process on 1st August, essentially what they’re trying to achieve is to manage the bookings etc centrally to shorten the timescales for repairs, to do this all van centres were instructed to re-submit all California roof claims and they would then be reassigned to one of 12 bodyshops around the country. As yet we have only received one new authority and it was for a vehicle in Newcastle.
I would suggest contacting your local vancentre or the van centre who processed your original claim if different, they will then be able to tell you which repairer is going to be handling your case. If you don’t have any luck I would suggest contacting Volkswagen Commercial vehicles customer care team on 0800 7834909 as they should have the latest information and best advice.

 

[Annik]

Chased up my corrosion fix yesterday and guess what? They have no record of my claim that was submitted and accepted back in 2014. I now have to drive to my dealer to start the process all over again, what is going on???

 

[Ambler]

It's called wriggling out of your responsibilities.
They messed up on the emissions so have to save elsewhere.

I am not confident my 6 year paint warranty will be honoured (if necessary) but we will see.

They are so big and the U.K. is such a small market for them I suspect they do not care.

 

[Custardtart]

"Assuming the worst, and that the repair is done, then fails shortly after the warranty expires, anyone fancy a class action law suit as provided for by the Consumer Rights Act 2015?"

This is what I'm thinking about now.

I was a big VW fan but no more. If they'd told me 3 years ago when I first reported corrosion on my (then) 1 year old van roof that they wouldn't repair it for at leat 3 years and in fact in 3 years time I wouldn't even have an acknowledged/accepted claim on the system and certainly wouldn't have a date any time soon for it to be bodged/repaired/whatever I think I would have pushed to return the vehicle.

I am not a lawyer but believe that a consumer has to allow the seller/manufacturer a reasonable attempt to correct a fault. I think 3 years without even scheduling a repair date would be seen as far from reasonable.

VW have been masters at stringing us along - we're always just a month or so away from progressing - but when I stop and take stock, in reality I have been on and off of queues, in and out of the system but the end result is I have actually made zero progress towards a repair in 3 years.

They are a huge company able to soak up billions of £s in fines from cheating their emissions in the USA but choose not to put sufficient resources towards correcting their design fault in a timely fashion for us.

When I point out to VW how badly they have treated me all I get is more of the same old spin.

I'm gutted to have a marque that I valued so highly treat me with such contempt.

I'll be looking at what my legal options are now.

 

[Ben Nevis]

"Assuming the worst, and that the repair is done, then fails shortly after the warranty expires, anyone fancy a class action law suit as provided for by the Consumer Rights Act 2015?"

This is what I'm thinking about now.

I was a big VW fan but no more. If they'd told me 3 years ago when I first reported corrosion on my (then) 1 year old van roof that they wouldn't repair it for at leat 3 years and in fact in 3 years time I wouldn't even have an acknowledged/accepted claim on the system and certainly wouldn't have a date any time soon for it to be bodged/repaired/whatever I think I would have pushed to return the vehicle.

I am not a lawyer but believe that a consumer has to allow the seller/manufacturer a reasonable attempt to correct a fault. I think 3 years without even scheduling a repair date would be seen as far from reasonable.

VW have been masters at stringing us along - we're always just a month or so away from progressing - but when I stop and take stock, in reality I have been on and off of queues, in and out of the system but the end result is I have actually made zero progress towards a repair in 3 years.

They are a huge company able to soak up billions of £s in fines from cheating their emissions in the USA but choose not to put sufficient resources towards correcting their design fault in a timely fashion for us.

When I point out to VW how badly they have treated me all I get is more of the same old spin.

I'm gutted to have a marque that I valued so highly treat me with such contempt.

I'll be looking at what my legal options are now.

I would be looking at getting an estimate for fitting a brand new replacement roof and then a solicitors letter requesting immediate replacement under warranty or taking them to court for that amount plus costs.

 

[deccauk]

Anybody making any progress with their repair?

My local van centre in Middlesbrough (who don't sell Californias) have now disowned the problem and told me to go to JCT600 in York. I have rang JCT600 multiple times and never been able to get hold of the body shop. There is never anyone available. Pathetic.

 

[jess]

We have lost around 20 x 10cm of paint now, nobody is interested in re-submitting our claim as they say it needs to be done by a bodyshop, I am still waiting for a call back to find out which bodyshop I need to go to. We have been waiting for over two years now on the main list and dont know what to do in regards to the new style repair.

 

[Ilkleymoortim]

I've recently been back in touch with my dealer (also in the north of England) as I've now waited a full two years since first joining the queue (April 2010 4-Motion Cali). They came back to me earlier in the week to tell me that several new external bodyshops have been appointed (added to the original 4 VW dealerships) to deal with this huge backlog. It included the one at Southport. However, like Shaun, they tell me that it will be many weeks before they are trained up on the repair process and that I will be waiting for a "good while" yet. Most importantly, they stressed that VW has abandoned the old comprehensive roof repair and that the rectification will now just be a new "lip" that will cover the affected area and will avoid removing the roof. They assured me that this new method was reported to be more effective than the old way. However, I can't see how covering the blistered paint (presumably on both the roof and front panel) can be classed as a satisfactory repair. I can see how doing it that way might save VW a lot of money.

I've recently been back in touch with my dealer (also in the north of England) as I've now waited a full two years since first joining the queue (April 2010 4-Motion Cali). They came back to me earlier in the week to tell me that several new external bodyshops have been appointed (added to the original 4 VW dealerships) to deal with this huge backlog. It included the one at Southport. However, like Shaun, they tell me that it will be many weeks before they are trained up on the repair process and that I will be waiting for a "good while" yet. Most importantly, they stressed that VW has abandoned the old comprehensive roof repair and that the rectification will now just be a new "lip" that will cover the affected area and will avoid removing the roof. They assured me that this new method was reported to be more effective than the old way. However, I can't see how covering the blistered paint (presumably on both the roof and front panel) can be classed as a satisfactory repair. I can see how doing it that way might save VW a lot of money.

I've now got a date for February 2017. I'm told the work will take one week and that I must get my Cali to the dealership in Lancashire myself (100 miles round trip from where I live). It will then be taken to Southport in an AA low-loader.

 

[Danny Tyler]

We have also been told this we expected the van to be picked up from our home and a loan Cali left for us but this is not the case with the new repair, we have to do a 2 hour round trip to our delaer !!!! Also to add insult to injury we no longer get a new bellows which we are peed off about as we ripped ours last week.

 

[makemefaster]

2012 Beach - I had a problem...just got it fixed by a body-shop i trust and paid for it myself. Not good that they new about the issue, had my vehicle and made no mention of the fault.

 

[Donmeado]

Same as many on here. 2010. The roof has corrosion on front and rear sections, registered at least 18 months if not more by previous owner, VW have been messing me around since April. More recently case was closed for no reason, apparently re-opened as I got very irate but not going to hold my breath. I will keep chasing but I suspect it wont ever get repaired unless there is some class/group action over it.

 

[Victor]

2012 Beach - I had a problem...just got it fixed by a body-shop i trust and paid for it myself. Not good that they new about the issue, had my vehicle and made no mention of the fault.

@makemefaster Bodyshop repair will not cure the fault, it will just come back again in a year or so, you need to get the proper repair done under warranty.

 

[CaliforniaBen]

I have been on the lsit for nearly three years now, I have just phoned my dealer for an update as this thread promoted me only to be told I am no longer on the list and need to go and have my claim re submitted from scratch. This is beyond a joke now as our roof is looking very ugly as the bubbles are now spreading. Class action would be good?

 

[Donmeado]

Same as many on here. 2010. The roof has corrosion on front and rear sections, registered at least 18 months if not more by previous owner (Calikev I think). VWCS have been messing me around and lying to me since April. More recently I was told to go back to a Van Centre (couldn't really understand why)- then when no-one called as they had promised, I found the case was closed altogether for no reason They re-opened it as I got very irate but not going to hold my breath, fully expect my next call to them to be fobbed off or to have been removed again from the list again. I will keep chasing but I suspect it wont ever get repaired unless there is some class/group action over it....

 

[Ma77sc]

In response to the club email request for owner updates:

62 plate Beach with peeling on the front section significantly increased over the summer.
Originally submitted in Mar 2015 at VWCV West Yorkshire but no notification of queue/status/dates.

Just called VWCS and was notified that West Yorkshire need to resubmit the claim through the new process and hopefully this will happen in the next couple of days. I will report back when I have an idea of 1) where they're sending me and 2) what sort of date.

 

[TimR]

Replying to Club email asking for details of affected owners. 61 plate SE. Registered 9 months ago, no date given for repair.

 

[eskimo]

Hi All, I picked up a 2007 Cali 4Motion via this site in 2013. I love it's been my everyday motor and used regularly for trips away. The roof has never been done. There was a small 5mm bubble on the leading edge of the front panel when I picked up the vehicle which I repaired with a primer, coat and lacquer from Halfords. That repair has held well and it has not spread. However there are now a couple of small bubbles appearing on the front panel next to where the ali awning strips finish. Is there any worth in me taking this up with the stealers? As its out of warranty, looking at the struggle everyone else is facing I'm guessing it not even be considered. Should we contact Watchdog?

 

[CaliMo]

Same issue here, 2012 SE Cali. Corrosion on front and rear sections of roof.

We purchased the van in August from a second hand camper sales company and were reasuured that a 'warranty job card' had been raised with a Eurovans/JCB Group dealership in Eastbourne. We were told that the whole roof panel, front section and canvas material are all replaced under warranty.
Have heard nothing as of yet but am now tempted to visit our local VW commercial van centre to check what the status is!

 

[amyjoemad]

Front panel and main roof both bubbled on my 2006 van, repair efficiently done by AP Crush (near Dover) - great name for body workshop.
Some minor hassle getting referral from Beadles Dartford in first place, suggest going to dealership and not shifting until photos have been taken and submitted by them - I called the repairers while I was at the dealership and made them talk to each other!

 

[Hotel California]

Hi All, I picked up a 2007 Cali 4Motion via this site in 2013. I love it's been my everyday motor and used regularly for trips away. The roof has never been done. There was a small 5mm bubble on the leading edge of the front panel when I picked up the vehicle which I repaired with a primer, coat and lacquer from Halfords. That repair has held well and it has not spread. However there are now a couple of small bubbles appearing on the front panel next to where the ali awning strips finish. Is there any worth in me taking this up with the stealers? As its out of warranty, looking at the struggle everyone else is facing I'm guessing it not even be considered. Should we contact Watchdog?

The alu rail (plastic) end caps on the front side are touching and scrubbing the paint causing corrosion.
At my dealer they replace the plasic end caps with caps that have been modified